Bladestay

Gr 9 Up--When the violent and charismatic August Gaines rides into the little town of Bladestay, CO, to flush out his enemy, Theodora Creed, 17, is being held in a jail cell for stabbing a local boy. Her newly shorn hair, criminal status, and razor-sharp mind allow her to pose as a boy and infiltrate August's crew, the only solution she sees to save her terrorized town. Truth and loyalty become slippery concepts as they track Theo's family and neighbors through the Colorado wilderness. Johnson's debut novel is breathtaking in both prose and pace, and the violence and brutality is offset by (although often hand-in-hand with) the familial relationship between August and his men. A blood-soaked but kindhearted member of the crew throws Theo off her game, as does the uneasy but undeniable kinship that builds between her and August. The western trope of good vs. evil is thrown out the window early on, and watching Theo try to keep her footing as she parses out ideas about loyalty, vengeance, family, and survival is a wild ride. Johnson presents a cast of complex and broken characters and asks thought-provoking questions about how motivation and guilt are weighed in the fine line between right and wrong. VERDICT A brutal, suspenseful, and surprising read with an unforgettable protagonist.--Beth McIntyre

A scheming female antihero goes undercover as a man to survive the hostile takeover of her small hometown in this raucous 19th-century Western. Seventeen-year-old Theodora "Theo" Creed finds herself in jail after stabbing the young man who attacked her following years of harassment. Soon after, a traveling gang led by a man named August Gaines, who's looking for both an enormous missing diamond and his old enemy, Lucas Haas, takes over Bladestay, Colorado. Theo dons men's clothes to gain access to August's group, hoping to protect her family and guarantee her own survival. Complicating her efforts is one member of the gang, Mexican rancher and gunslinger Brody Boone, who grows to care for her. Twists abound; many characters are not who they initially appear to be, making their interactions feel awash in intrigue and subterfuge. Unfortunately, the gradual reveal of characters' backstories leaves them feeling underdeveloped and will muddy readers' understanding of their motivations. Main characters are white; August's group of men includes a formerly enslaved person and an Indigenous person. Together they create a genuine sense of family as they travel in search of Haas. Shocking acts of violence punctuate most chapters, including an explicit incident of torture, but wordy descriptions slow down the pace of the action. A twisty but unevenly executed novel that packs quite a few literal punches. (content warning) (Historical fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.